There is no doubt that Amy Herzog’s “Belleville”, now at the Pasadena Playhouse, has dramatic power, and some extraordinary characters which must be an actor’s dream to perform. In many ways, this is enough to recommend the show to the public. Herzog is a celebrated contemporary playwright and the realism with which she develops her characters is subtly revealing and disturbing by turns, and the play proves engrossing from first to last.

Still, the promotion of this play, new to Los Angeles but nominated for awards during its New York run, as a Hitchcockian thriller does it a disservice, as it sets one up for an atmosphere different from what one receives.

The tale concerns American ex-pats Zack and Abby, who have settled somewhat awkwardly in a marginal part of Paris. Abby comes home early from a job she is failing at to find Zack there as well, rather than at his job working for Doctors Without Borders. From that point on, both their stories begin a gradual unraveling, revealing underlying anger and deception which send both on a wrenching downward spiral. Caught up in this are the far more stable Afro-French couple who manage the building the two Americans are living in, emphasizing the difference between stability and partnership and what the main protagonists are going through.

As character studies, “Belleville” is fantastic. As a thriller, there are far too many “tells” for Hitchcockian surprise, though the play’s characters are so well written one is completely engrossed anyway.

And, as has been said, the performances are extremely good. Anna Camp gives Abby the right mix of ambition, suspicion and frustration as she gradually sheds the artifice which has kept her marriage afloat. Thomas Sadoski, as her husband Zack, walks the fine lines between convention, desperation and immaturity in ways which prove intriguing even as they quietly herald the upheavals to come. Moe Jeudy-Lamour, as the manager who befriends Zack but must now be authoritative handles the struggle of that dichotomy with subltety, while Sharon Pierre-Louis gives his wife a sense of authority and conviction which grounds that couple in ways Zack and Abby will never know.

Director Jenna Worsham gives the play a realism which provides the connective tissue between characters and audience, and a pacing which propels this story forward in ways you cannot look away from. David Meyer’s hyper-realistic set also creates that sense of connection, while Sara Ryung Clement’s costumes help to define the differences between perception and reality in interesting ways.

“Belleville” is wrenching stuff, but fascinating. On the other hand, it is not in the classic sense a thriller, but closer to an unfolding, classic tragedy. There is no sudden turn here, but rather the gradual revelation of the fatal flaws of the main characters. Don’t go expecting Hitchcock, but, if you go, go to see the actors’ art and a commentary on expectation and the nature of love.